The Markham Elementary School PTA released a statement explaining that the decision to let parents have a chance to bid on the right to pick their child's teacher was made by volunteers running the auction. They checked with the school's principal who approved the idea moments before the auction was set to begin.

The annual auction raised $52,000 for the school, with $1,300 coming from six parents who won the right to choose their child's next teacher. Not everybody was happy that the school allowed parents to pay money to handpick which class their child would be in next year.

Portland Public Schools spokesman Harry Esteve issued a statement saying that the school has returned the money to the parents.

"The principal realizes that she made a spur-of-the-moment mistake by agreeing to a request to allow families to bid on specific teachers for their students, and she has apologized to her staff. The PTA, which hosted the auction, also has apologized and returned the money.”